SANTIAGO – A teenage boy has been charged with aggravated assault after a video showed him falling into a river from a teenage bridge during a clash with security forces in the Chilean capital, Santiago, on Friday.
The video of a shallow river in the country went viral, sparked by massive protests almost a year ago, in which 311 people were killed and thousands injured, along with inmates, and massive damage to subway stations and buildings.
Late on Friday night, the country’s children’s ombudsman said on Twitter that he planned to file a “cow slaughter attempt” complaint over the video, which showed police officers throwing the teenager on a bed in the Mapocho River.
The teenager was admitted to a care center. Plaintiffs say they plan to investigate the matter.
In the video, police revealed the tweet on Saturday. Colonel. Rodrigo Soto denied that officers grabbed the boy by his legs or pushed him into the river with a police water cannon, “Witnesses on social media have discovered.”
“This unfortunate accident happened in the context of the arrest of people who caused the disorder,” he added.
The Chilean government said in a statement on Saturday that it had ordered an investigation into the case and that officials involved in the investigation would be removed from their duties.
It added that “the government denies and condemns any form of violence, regardless of its origin or motivation.”
The episode happened after about 100 people gathered in the iconic square of central Santiago with various demands, which led to a scuffle between the police. But protests were the voice of massive rallies last year before the epidemic and earlier this year.
Analysts fear that the anniversary of the 2019 protests, which began last October with a rise in public transport prices, will release a new wave of unrest, which has largely stalled in March due to the arrival of the coronavirus epidemic.
